Chapter Iv Who Renders Justice

The Constitution provides that “the judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one supreme court and in such inferior courts as the Congress may, from time to time, ordain and establish.”

Under this provision of the Constitution Congress at its first session enacted a law providing for a Supreme Court, three circuit courts, and a number of district courts. Six justices were appointed for the Supreme Court, but there were no separate circuit judges, and the work of each circuit court was left to two justices of the Supreme Court and the judge of the district in which the session was held.

One of the saddest manifestations of the imperfections of our politically controlled government is to be found in the record of the federal judiciary, in turn neglected, imposed upon, and buffeted by Congress. This is not the place to tell that story; but the interested reader is referred to “The Business of the Supreme Court” by Felix Frankfurter and James M. Landis.

At present the United States Supreme Court has nine members. They meet in what was formerly the Senate Chamber in the old part of the Capitol in Washington. The Justices are appointed by the President with the approval of the Senate and hold office for life. They can only be removed by impeachment.

The chief justice receives a salary of $15,000 and the others $14,500 each.

The country is divided into ten circuits, and in these circuits there are circuit judges, varying in number according to the size of the circuit and the amount of judicial business arising within its borders. Formerly there were circuit courts; but they have been abolished, and the circuit judges now sit with district judges to constitute the United States Circuit Courts of Appeal, of which there is one for each circuit.

The lowest federal court is the District Court. Of these there are some eighty; but a district may be cut up into divisions with one or more judges for each division.

The salaries of the circuit judges are $12,500 each and of the district judges $10,000 each.

There are also two special courts concerning which a word needs to be said. One is the Court of Claims, established in 1855, with a chief justice and four associate judges, whose business it is to hear and determine the merits of all claims against the federal government. The other is the Court of Customs Appeals, with the same number of judges as the Court of Claims. It serves as the final court of appeal in all controversies regarding the administration of the tariff laws.

All the judges of inferior federal courts, like those of the Supreme Court, are appointed for life or during good behavior. Their salaries may not be diminished during their tenure of office.